In 2019, a Frederick County man who was being investigated for suspicion of possession and distribution of child pornography had a warrant executed at his home. All of his computers, cellular phones, routers, and hard drives were seized. The raid was carried out by local police. However, all of his electronic devices and account information were forwarded to the Department of Homeland Security for forensic analysis. He urgently needed to secure criminal defense.

The client had not yet been charged, but knew he was in trouble and immediately sought out Mr. Kadish for representation. Throughout the following year, Mr. Kadish made regular contact with both the prosecutor and the investigating detectives. As a direct result of the client following Mr. Kadish’s pre-charging guidance, things went smoothly when he was ultimately charged.  Mr. Kadish was able to make arrangements for the client to turn himself in instead of being arrested in front of co-workers or his neighbors.

Additionally, when the client turned himself in (and as a direct result of our firm’s proactive involvement before he was charged) the client was able to be released pending trial, even though he was charged with felony intent to promote/distribute child pornography and multiple counts of possession of child pornography.

After the client was formally charged, prosecutors quickly reached out to Mr. Kadish and offered the Defendant a misdemeanor plea with home detention; all he had to do was acknowledge guilt.  While the client was tempted to avoid jail, he did not want the collateral consequence of being a registered sex offender which is a statutory result of a child pornography conviction.  After careful consultation with Mr. Kadish, the client elected to allow our firm to challenge the forensics of the entire case, which is rarely done; most attorneys simply accept the plea.

It appeared that the forensic examination conducted by Homeland Security was inadequate and failed to prove the State’s case. The prosecutor reached out to her agents who attempted a “bluff” and forwarded further documents which they claimed would be used at trial to convict our client. Not willing to accept what had been sent in the “second round” of documents, Mr. Kadish reached out to the country’s foremost private computer forensics experts who after analyzing all of the data, concluded that Mr. Kadish was correct; the government was bluffing. Consequently, the plea offer was rejected, and Mr. Kadish demanded the client’s pending matter be set for trial.

The prosecution continued to “consult” with its agents, but could not refute Mr. Kadish and his own expert witness’s position.  More than a year after he began working this case, Mr. Kadish received a telephone call from the prosecutor in which she told him that the State had made the decision to dismiss all charges against the client..

Not only was the client cleared of any wrongdoing and his charges expunged, but he also was not required to register as a sex offender and even had all of his electronics returned.